Garner to run for second term

FAYETTEVILLE — State Rep. Denise Garner, a Democrat, will run for a second term to represent House District 84, she announced Wednesday.

Garner, 62, defeated incumbent

Rep. Charlie Collins, a Republican, to win her first term in 2017. The two candidates spent $394,682 during the election, more than double of any other legislative contest in Northwest Arkansas.

Garner is a long-time executive of nonprofit organizations in the area.

She plans a campaign kickoff at 5:30 p.m. today at the Apple Blossom Brewery, 1550 E. Zion Road.

“We simply need more moderate voices bridging the political divide and proving bipartisan leadership works,” Garner said in her announcement.

District 84 includes much of eastern Fayetteville, Greenland and parts of Springdale, Elkins, West Fork and Prairie Grove.

Garner was a vocal opponent of Collins’ legislation allowing guns on state college campuses, including the University of Arkansas.

“If the horrific events of this past weekend in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, tells us anything about our current political climate, it is that we cannot wait any longer for policy to address the gun violence epidemic in America. People are scared. We have had too many mass shootings in the U.S. this year alone. Enough is enough,” she said in her announcement.

Garner is the first candidate to announce for the seat. Candidate filing for partisan offices begins at noon Nov. 4 and ends at noon Nov. 12. Party primaries are March 3, 2020. The general election is Nov. 3, 2020.

State House members serve two-year terms and have an annual salary of $39,400.